Pretty Cure All Stars: Enter The Virtual World
by ultimate mayhem
Summary: AU Sequel to Rise of the Cardivus. A small team of Pretty Cure is sent to another universe to aid player in what should've been a game. Now this team of eight Pretty Cure must do what they can to help end the threat on everyone's lives as fast as possible. Spoilers for Rise of the Cardivus Praecordia. Urara/LemonadexOC, Miyuki/HappyxReika/Beauty.
1. A New Mission

Pretty Cure All Stars Enter The Virtual World

Disclaimer

I do not own anything having to do with SAO nor do I own the characters, concepts or powers in Pretty Cure. I only own the OCs.

Chapter 1 A New Mission

A girl who appeared to be around the age of fifteen walked into a dark room. The lights turned on revealing the girl's short hair, her red and yellow eyes, and the X shaped scar on her cheek. She was also revealed wearing what middle school uniform which consisted of a light violet shirt and skirt with a dark purple jacket over it which had a bow tied around her neck. The girl looked around until confused.

"Shawn! Did you call me?" she asked. A man in a white suit appears whose face is similar to the girl's. "Why the white suit?"

"Lilia made me wear it for today since we're going to a little birthday party. You forgot didn't you Ashley." replied Shawn.

"Uh yeah." said Ashley sheepishly. "Anyway what did you call me here for?"

"There's a mission that's come up in another universe." replied Shawn. "I've got spies in said reality who've told me that there's something major that's gonna happen."

"What kind of something major?" asked Ashley.

"There's an MMORPG coming out in this reality." replied Shawn.

"What's an MMORPG?" asked Ashley.

"You know how you like playing WoW, Battle On, Borderlands and so on?" Ashley nodded. "Those are MMORPGs. It stands for Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game."

"So what's gonna happen?" asked Ashley.

"I don't know. He sent me an email saying that a lot of lives were gonna be at risk." replied Shawn.

"How can they be at risk from a game?" asked Ashley. Shawn handed Ashley a helmet like device with a visor. "What's this?"

"It's called a NerveGear. You plug it into the computer you're using to play the game and you control your avatar with it." replied Shawn as Ashley put the NerveGear on. "From what he said you put that on, connect it to the game while it's on, and your mind will be in the game controlling your avatar."

"So the mission is to enter the game and do what?"

"There's a certain player who has potential for something greater. The possibility to become an ally for what's to come." replied Shawn.

"I'm still not sure I follow. Won't everyone log out once they realize that if they die in the game they'll die in reality?"

"When the game launches and the players go in they won't be able to log out." replied Shawn seriously. "The guy who made the game made sure of this."

"So if I go in I'll be trapped."

"Kind of. There is a way out of the game. If anyone finishes the game everyone will be pulled out." corrected Shawn.

"How long's the game?" asked Ashley.

"As far as I know 100 floors and the only way is to open the door from one floor to the next floor is to take out the boss at the end. It seems that the game is set up so that it makes no difference who beats the boss so long as someone takes them out." replied Shawn.

"So I go. Help out and that's it?"

"No. There was a Beta Tester who has a great potential." explained Shawn handing Ashley a piece of paper with something written on it. "In there is the name of the one you have to help and protect."

"I'm not getting a choice in this, am I?" asked Ashley.

"No you're not." said Shawn. "I want you to pick four Cures outside of your team to accompany you on this mission."

"You want me to risk others?" asked Ashley.

"It's understandable that you'd rather leave others out of this but most of the other Elemental Pretty Cure have other assignments and you need back up." said Shawn.

"Understood." said Ashley before leaving.

"Did you get all that, Urara?" asked Shawn. A door opened and the blond pig tailed Urara walked in wearing the same uniform.

"I did." said Urara.

"You and I both know that she won't ask you for obvious reasons so I'll let you decide whether or not to go." said Shawn.

"I'll go." said Urara.

"That was quick but it's understandable." said Shawn. "But what about your career. It's impossible to tell how long this will take."

"I hear being away from the spotlight for a little while can can raise my career to another level." said Urara. "Besides I already told my dad and grandpa I'd be gone for a while and to trust me."

"Alright then get ready." said Shawn.

'This was three days ago.' Urara thought to herself as she walked with Ashley, Miyuki, Reika, Inori, Setsuna, Ellen, and Yuri through a hallway led by Shawn. After they reached a room with a large platform. Once inside he turned to Ashley.

"Everyone ready?" asked Shawn. The eight girls nodded. "Alright then let's go." he said as the platform they stood on began glowing. Afterwards they found themselves in what appeared to be an apartment which was very well equipped. "Come this way." he said leading them into a room. When they went in the girls saw eight beds in a circle with each having a NerveGear on it. All eight NerveGears were connected to eight seperate home computers. "All eight computers are set to work with the game Sword Art Online so once you put the NerveGear on say Link Start." he explained as he checked his watch. "Five to one. Alright everyone please transform now."

"Pretty Cure, Legendary Flame!" called out Ashley.

"Pretty Cure, Metamorphose!" called out Urara.

"Change! Pretty Cure, Beat Up!" called out Inori and Setsuna.

"Pretty Cure, Open My Heart!" called out Yuri.

"Let's Play, Pretty Cure, Modulation!" called out Ellen.

"Pretty Cure, Smile Charge!" called out Miyuki and Reika.

"The Grand Flame of Rebirth, Cure FireStorm!" called out Ashley now with red hair which went just below her neck, she now wore a red top with a bow on her chest, a pad on her right shoulder which was blood red, a red choker, an almost knee length red skirt, red and gold forearm armor, fingerless gloves, and red knee length inch heeled boots.

"The Fragrance of Bursting Lemon, Cure Lemonade!"

"The Yellow Heart is the Symbol of Faith. Freshly Harvested, Cure Pine!"

"The Scarlet Heart is the Proof of Happiness! Freshly Ripened, Cure Passion!"

"The Flower That Glistens in the Light of the Moon, Cure Moonlight!"

"Playing the Tune of the Soul, Cure Beat!"

"Twinkling and Shining, the Light of the Future! Cure Happy!"

"Snow Falling and Gathering, A Noble Heart! Cure Beauty!"

"Alright we don't have much time so listen carefully." said Shawn as each of the girls sat on each bed and put on their NerveGear. "We synchronized a server with one from The Arc so while you're in the game you'll have access to your powers but try to limit the use of them to avoid drawing attention to yourselves. Also you'll all be linked to Ashley because we've added data to the computer that was implanted in her cerebral cortex to include data from all the other Japanese Cures and a few of the international ones. We've also sent some data to your gauntlets which you'll be able to use once inside. Our server will also allow you to send messages to the Arc so we'll get them to the others. We've also included a bit of a diary so you can keep a log of what happens while you're in there. Now as far as I know while you're in the game you'll have a manual which has information from the Beta Testers so I recomend you take a look at while you have the chance. Any questions?" Miyuki raised her hand. "Yeah?"

"Will we still be able to do the Mixi Trans thing?"

"We're not sure but again don't try something like that unless you really need to." replied Shawn. "Now then..." he said walking up to Lemonade before he started changing her hair.

"What are you doing?" asked Lemonade.

"Just need to fix your hair or the NerveGear might get stuck." replied Shawn as he got Lemonade's hair to look like Urara's without the twin tails. Then he looked at his watch. "A minute left. Everyone we're counting on you and good luck." he said as all eight Cures put the NerveGears on and laid down. "System on." At that the computers turned on and started up Sword Art Online. "Oh and one last thing. It's preferable if you use your Cure names for the names of your characters since Pretty Cure don't exist in this reality your identities will be safe and you'll be able to tell each other apart." said Shawn as the clock struck one.

"Link Start!" called out all eight. At that they were logged in and then each made a character using their Cure name. After finishing the first part all eight saw something similar to stars going by as one enters the speed of light in Star Wars. Afterwards they found themselves in the middle of an old town which looked like something from the middle ages.

Floor 1: Town of Beginnings

"Nice." said Firestorm as she looked around.

"Ashley?" asked a girl who approached wearing a light blue skirt with a white shirt and what looked like a black leather vest.

"While we're here call me by my character's name Beat." replied Firestorm.

"Are you a guy?" asked Beat.

"Didn't wanna risk getting a character with a skirt." replied Firestorm who wore a brown pants with a red V neck shirt and a brown leather vest.

"What do we do first?" asked Beat.

"Let's start by find the others." replied Firestorm.

"How?"

"Like this." said Firestorm as she made her menu appear. After a few moments it disappeared.

"What did you do?" asked Beat as a screen appeared in front of her surprising her.

"In games like this you can send friend requests to other players if you know their characters' names. I just sent requests to you and the others. Once they accept we'll e able to find them." replied Firestorm.

"Good thinking Firestorm." said Beat.

"You know what. Firestorm sounds a little redundant so just call me Storm."

"Alright." said Beat as the two began walking around. Within a few minutes they found Lemonade, Passion, Happy, Beauty, Moonlight, and Pine.

"So what do we do now?" asked Happy.

"Well we could either look around town or go out of town and fight some low level monsters so we can start leveling up." said Storm.

"It might be best if we try to find some kind of money source." said Reika.

"Then we fight." said Ashley causing the others to turn to her. "In RPGs you can get money by either taking down monsters, accepting quests, or selling stuff we recieve in battle and since our gear is base level so our best chance is if we fight a few monsters to get some items and some cash. We'll need it to get some food."

"I don't think we'll need it." said Beat.

"Don't be so sure." said Storm. "From what Shawn told me the other day after we entered here he placed stasis fields around our bodies so they'll stay the same while we're here. However our minds will still think about things like hunger and exhaustion so we have treat this place similar to our normal lives. We'll eat and sleep just the same." she said as they walked. As they did Storm looked at the sword which was on her left side and smiled. "I hope you all remember your training from back then."

"If we have our powers while we're here can we just just them?" asked Happy.

"We must not draw attention to ourselves Happy." said Beauty.

"And that's why unless it's absolutely necessary we'll stick to using our equipped weapon and maybe get some new ones along the way." added Storm as they left the village and entered a large field.

"This is amazing." said Lemonade.

"It reminds me of back home." said Moonlight.

"Come on. We haven't even been here an hour and you're all getting melancholic?" asked Storm.

"No one ever said we couldn't enjoy the little things." said Passion.

"I guess you're right." said Storm.

"So where do we go?" asked Lemonade.

"I say let's just wander around for a while. Fight a few base level creatures and go from there." said Storm. As they walked a boar got in front of them with its health bar visible above it. "Alright I'll take this one." she said drawing her sword. The boar got ready to charge but Storm simply kept a bored expression on her face. The others stepped back as the boar charged. Storm jumped over it and turned. "Weird. My body feels a lot lighter." she said as the boar turned and charged once more. This time she moved to the side and slashed it as it ran causing a red line to open at its side. Storm noticed as it turned and charge energy into her weapon. She then ran at the boar before slashing with one swift slash. After she shiethed her weapon as the boar shattered into data bits. Then a window appeared where the boar had been which showed EXP, Cal, and Items which disappeared shortly after.

"I'm not sure I like this." said Pine.

"I wouldn't worry about it." said Storm. "If we don't fight they'll basically keep attacking."

"I see." said Pine sadly.

"Don't worry Buki. This is all virtual so you wouldn't be hurting any animals." said Passion. It was then Storm turned.

"Is something wrong?" asked Beauty.

"I just heard some that kinda sounded like some guy complaining about being hit in the nads." replied Storm trying not to laugh. "Anyway I think our actual skills remain the same but try focus energy into your weapon as you fight. It'll help." The group kept walking and encountered a few more boars so everyone was able to take out a few. Before they knew it the sun was beginning to set.

"So far nothing seems out of the ordinary." said Moonlight as she shiethed her sword.

"True but things aren't always as they seem." said Storm. It was then they heard a bell. "Did you all here a bell too or is my head still ringing from this morning's training?"

"I hear it too." said Beat.

"So do I." said Passion.

"I do too." said Happy as a bright flash of light suddenly surprised them. After they found themselves in what looked like a large colloseum with a clock tower in the middle where there were several other players and where others were still appearing.

"What's going on?" asked Happy.

"I'm not sure." said Storm.

"Why don't we ask around. Someone might know something." suggested Passion.

"Don't be so sure." said Moonlight. "From the sound of things everyone here is confused so it's unlikely they know what's happening."

"So what do we do?" asked Beat.

"We'll be patient." said Storm. "I've got a feeling thing's will be made clear."

"Hey what's that?" asked Lemonade.

"What?" asked Pine. Lemonade pointed up where they all saw a part of the sky blinking in red.

"I think that says warning." said Storm as she squinted. "This can't be good." It was then the entired sky became red with several other red signs before what looked like blood began to ooze out of the lines in the sky which began to combine and formed a large being in some kind of ceremonial robe with a hood.

"Do we have to fight that?" asked Happy.

"I highly doubt it." said Beauty as they heard several people speculating on what was going on.

"Should we get our weapons ready?" asked Happy.

"No." said Beauty. "From what Yayoi told me in this kind of game there may be some kind of ultimate boss who appears at the beginning of the game but is an enemy who is far more powerful than the players who are just beginning. If that is an enemy we will have to fight it at the end."

"Attention players." said the robed figure. "Welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment I am the sole person who can control this world. I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu. This is not a defect of the game. I repeat, this is not a defect of the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO yourselves and no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave destroying your brain and thus ending your life." Upon hearing this several players began to panic while others remained skeptical of what they had just been told.

"So they weren't exaggerating." said Storm.

"So what do we do?" asked Lemonade as she took Storm's hand.

"All we can do right now is listen." replied Storm. "Unless I miss my guess I'd say this is to tell more than what's been said which means that even if we wanted to we can't leave."

"Unfortunately several players' friends and families have ignored this warning and have attempted to remove the NerveGear." said Kayaba. "As a result two hundred thirteen players are gone forever from both Aincrad and earth."

"Is he serious?" asked Beat with widened eyes.

"Do not forget that is part of the reason we are here." said Beauty.

"That's right. We're on assignment and we need to help end this as quickly as possible." said Storm as she lightly squeezed Lemonade's hand.

"As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all of this. Including the deaths." said Kayaba. "As such you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal. I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game. I want you to rememeber this clearly. There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero your avatar will forever be lost and simultaneously the NerveGear will destroy your brain." Upon hearing this everyone became silent. "There is only one means of escape. To complete the game. You are currently on the lowers floor of Aincrad. Floor 1." he said as he used his menu screen to make a map of Aincrad appeare which showed all 100 floors. "If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on the 100th floor and you will clear the game." Upon hearing this people began talking again. "Finally I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourselves." Hearing this a few players including Storm, Moonlight, Beauty, and Passion checked their inventory and saw they had a mirror in their inventory which they got out. It was then all the players were enveloped by a blue light from below one by one which began surprising them. All the players began looking around including the Pretty Cure. To their surprise their appearance had changed. They all now looked like their actual selves so Storm's hair and face were now as they really are including her scars. Lemonade's appearance was similar to how she'd gone into the game with her hair down. The other Cures looked at each other and became confused.

"What happened?" asked Happy.

"The Nervegear must've scanned us which would explain the whole calibration thing." said Storm.

"Well at least this will make it easier to tell each other apart." said Beat.

"That's true. Especially since our hair colors are a way different than normal." said Storm.

"Right now you're all probably wondering "why?"." said Kayaba. "Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do all this? My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason: To create this world and intervene in it. And now, it is complete. Thus ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. Good luck player." At that smoke began to come out of Kayaba as he disappeared and the sky returned to normal. After that everyone remained silent for about a minute before a girl's scream was heard and everyone suddenly realized that what was said was true.

"Let's go." said Storm as she began walking while still holding Lemonade's hand.

"Where are we going?" asked Lemonade.

"Disregarding everything this is still an MMORPG which means we need to become stronger and the boars and stuff around here will be wiped clean by the players who regain their composure the fastest so we need to head to the next village and get stronger. Otherwise we'll end up botching the mission."

"So who are we supposed to protect here?" asked Passion.

"Someone who uses the name Kirito." replied Storm.

"Isn't there anything we can do for them?" asked Lemonade.

"While they're here they won't be in danger of being taken out but..." said Storm.

"You believe that some may not be willing to continue if they're trapped here." finished Beauty. Storm nodded.

"So what do we do?" asked Pine.

"We fight." said Storm. "We fight for those who are lost and those who fall in battle. We fight to get finish this mission and free everyone. But most of all we fight to get back to everyone we care about. Are you with me?" Lemonade squeezed Storm's hand.

"Always."

"I'm in." said Beat.

"Me too." said Happy.

"Right now I think it's safe to say we're all in." said Moonlight as the others nodded.

"Then let's go!" called out Storm with a smile as she held up her fist. At that most of the others did the same and they began walking.

To Be Continued.


	2. The First Boss Battle

Pretty Cure All Stars Enter The Virtual World

Disclaimer

I do not own anything having to do with SAO nor do I own the characters, concepts or powers in Pretty Cure. I only own the OCs.

Chapter 2 The First Boss Battle

"How long have we been here?" asked Passion.

"Around a month." replied Happy.

"I'm sorry you all got involved in this." said Storm.

"Hey what are friends for?" asked Passion.

"Besides even though we're still in the first floor we've leveled up quite a bit." said Beat.

"Not that much." said Beauty. "Since we've been we've only gone up about seven levels and from what Yayoi told me in games like this if there is a level up limit it'll be at level 100."

"That's amazing." said Happy.

"So what should we do today?" asked Beat.

"I heard of a meeting that's being held today on fighting the boss of this floor." said Moonlight.

"Then we should go." said Storm. Within the first few days they'd read the manual although it took most of them a few days to finish. "The exceptions being Beauty who finished it in the first day, Happy who hadn't even gotten half ways, and Lemonade who was near the end of it. Other than this they'd all gotten new weapons. Moonlight had gotten a rapier because to her it felt similar to her Tact. Most of the others had just gotten long swords with the exception of Beauty and Storm both of whom had katanas equipped to their left sides.

As they walked Lemonade noticed that Storm looked a bit worried.

"Is something wrong?" asked Lemonade causing the others to turn to her.

"I got a message last night from Shawn saying that they found another lab." replied Storm.

"What was in it?" asked Moonlight.

"The reason he sent me the message wasn't because of what was in it but because of what was missing." replied Storm causing most of them to look confused. "It was one of the Cardivus' secret labs but it seems that when they went in they found several corpses belonging to some scientists."

"That really doesn't sound good." said Beat.

"If it involves the Cardivus Praecordia then it's no wonder it's not good." said Passion. "Do they know what happened?"

"Do you remember the evil versions of myself and the others who were sent to take us out?" asked Storm. The others nodded. "Well they found files which show the little project they were working on. Essentially evil copies of the Elemental Pretty Cure."

"But didn't they already do that?" asked Happy.

"That's right. What would be the point of fighting another evil clone group when the previous ones were defeated?" asked Beat.

"These are different." replied Storm looking down. "It seems these nine weren't created with the ability to use light and darkness. They were made to be pure evil."

"So why did he send you a message about that?" asked Lemonade.

"In case we encounter them here." replied Storm.

"What are the odds of that?" asked Happy.

"Hard to tell." replied Storm as they arrived at a place that looked like an ancient greek theater. The eight went up until they went up four rows from the top.

"Alright everyone let's get started." said the blue haired man who was running the meeting. "Thank you for coming today. My name's Diabel and I like to think my job is being a knight." At that several people laughed lightly.

"This game doesn't have a job system." said one player.

"Well at least he's trying to lighten things up." said Storm.

"Perhaps but this is something which should be taken seriously." said Moonlight.

"Today our party found the boss room at the top of the tower." said Diabel becoming very serious.

"Seriously?" asked one player as everyone became surprised.

"We need to defeat the boss to reach the second floor and tell everyone in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game." continued Diabel. "Everyone present right now shares this duty! Do you all agree?" Most of the players looked around and then nodded before some started clapping while others whistled. "Alright now let's begin planning. First off divide into parties of six. An ordinary party has no chance against the floor boss. We'll need to form a raid group using multiple parties." he said as the several players began forming parties. Storm looked around and noticed a guy who approached someone in a cloak.

"Come on." said Storm leading them to where the other two were. "Hey. Would you two like to join us?"

"He said parties of six." said the guy.

"Yeah well we came into the game together so we stay close. Besides..." said Storm as she pulled up her screen and invited the guy to their party.

"I guess with more we'll have a better chance of survival." said the guy as he turned to the cloaked figure. "What do you think?" The player just shrugged. "Alright." he said as he accepted. After the Cures saw two more health bars added to their vision. They saw the names Kirito and Asuna which caused Storm's eyes to widen slightly.

"I'm Firestorm but call me Storm for short." she introduced herself. "These are my friends. Lemonade, Passion, Pine, Moonlight, Beat, Happy, and Beauty." she said as the other nodded when they heard their names.

"I'm Kirito." said the guy. The other person looked to the side. Suddenly Storm's eyes widened and she fell to one knee with a hand on her chest.

"Hey are you alright?" asked Kirito as they knelt down around her.

"And here I thought the trouble I had with that side are starting again." said Storm as she got up. "Sorry about that."

"Do you have a heart condition or something?" asked Kirito.

"I have what you might consider a condition but it's not something you've ever seen." replied Storm as she stood up. "Anyway it's a pleasure to meet you." she said extending her hand. Kirito smiled and shook her hand. Then she placed a hand on his arm which caused it to glow. Kirito became confused as Storm released him.

"What was that?" asked Kirito.

"Let's call it something to keep us in contact in case we get seperated during battle." said Storm. "I hope you don't mind."

"If it'll help in battle I don't mind but I though there was no magic here." said Kirito.

"There isn't. If you find the right way you can enter this game with abilities you actually have." explained Storm.

"I see." said Kirito trying to understand.

"So would you be okay with it?" Storm asked Asuna who still had her face concealed. She looked towards Kirito and then back to Storm before nodding. Then Storm put her hand on the back of Asuna's causing it to glow. Once she removed it a red mark appeared in the shape of a bird. It was then they heard a small beep. "Huh. I have a message." she said bringing up her system menu to check her messages.

"Who's it from?" asked Lemonade as she took Storm's hand.

"Usui." replied Storm as she looked at the message. "He says he found some rare potion that works to enhance strength and speed."

"We could probably use that." said Kirito.

"That may be true but he sells these things at high prices so we might not be able to afford it. The boots I'm wearing were like four grand." said Storm.

"Alright. Has everyone formed their parties?" asked Diabel.

"Just a second!" everyone heard a voice call out. They all turned and saw a guy at the top who jumped skipping steps until he got to the where Diabel was. "My name's Kibaou and I wanna say something before we take on the boss. Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand players who have died so far!" he declard as he pointed up.

"Kibaou-san are you referring to the Beta Testers?" asked Diabel.

"Of course I am!" replied Kibaou. "The day this stupid game started teh betas ditched us beginners and disappeared. They took all the good hunting spots and easy quests for themselves so only they could get stronger. Then they just ignored the rest of us. I'm sure someone here was in the Beta! They should get on their knees and apologize and give up all the items and money they've hoarded. Otherwise we can't trust them to protect us as party members!" Everyone remained silent for a few seconds when Storm stood up and let go of Lemonade's hand.

"There's an old expression where I come from." said Storm catching everyone's attention. "The dog who barks the loudest is the one who fears the most."

"What did you say?!" yelled out Kibaou.

"What's he doing?" asked Kirito.

"I have no idea." said Lemonade as Storm reached Kibaou and Diabel.

"So you were in the Beta!" declared Kiboau.

"I'm afraid not. If I had been then I'd be "hogging the good hunting spots"." said Storm with air quotes as she looked at Kibaou with a malicious look in her eyes. The two looked at her and saw the white part of her eyes become black. "Honestly people like you just piss me off and I've put about fourty in the hospital."

"Is that true?" asked Kirito.

"It's actually more than that." replied Lemonade. "Storm's got a bit of a temper."

"That's an understatement." said Moonlight.

"Didn't she tell us not to draw attention to ourselves?" asked Happy.

"Indeed." said Beauty as Storm looked at Kibaou.

"If you're gonna spout that kind of crap then fight me right now." said Storm.

"You think you can take me on?" asked Kibaou as he drew his sword. Storm walked up to Kibaou and was about to make a move when they heard something.

"Stop." said a deep voice. Then a large man approached them. "I am Agil. Kibaou-san tell me if I've got this right. You're saying that because the Beta Testers didn't take care of them many beginners died and that they should take responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation. Is that right?"

"Y-yeah. That's right." replied Kibaou. Then Agil pulled something out of his pocket.

"You got this guide book, didn't you?" asked Agil holding a small book. "It was provided for free at the item shop.

"Yeah I did. Why?" asked Kibaou.

"It was complied from information given by the Beta Testers." replied Agil. Then many players began saying things like "seriously?" causing Kibaou to gain an angry look.

"Listen up. Everyone had equal access to this information and still many players died. I thought the topic of discussion here was what we could learn from their deaths and how that could help us defeat the boss." Agil said turning to everyone and then back to Kibaou and Storm. Kibaou looked at Agil and then was about to head to a seat when Storm punched him in the face throwing him into a wall causing everyone to gasp.

"Again he pissed me off and I had to let out some steam." said Storm casually.

"You're gonna pay for that!" yelled out Kiboau as she drew his sword and began trying to slash at Storm who in turn began dodging the attacks.

"Should we stepped in?" asked Kirito. Before anyone could reply Lemonade stood up and went down to where the two were still in their scuffle.

"This isn't gonna end well." said Passion.

"Why?" asked Kirito.

"Just watch." replied Beat. Kirito turned and saw as Lemonade jumped and landed on Kibaou's shoulders before she jumped in front of him and dropped kicked him back surprising everyone minus the Cures. After she glared at Storm who looked to the side.

"You really didn't need to do that." said Storm. Rather than answering Lemonade motioned her wrist which caused a golden chain to wrap around Storm which allowed Lemonade to drag Storm back to their seats leaving everyone in shock. "You know this isn't necessary."

"Please continue." said Lemonade. Storm was about to say something when Lemonade pulled her ear.

"Uh okay then." said Diabel. "Anyway the latest edition of the guide book was just issued. According to it the boss's name is Illfang the Kobold Lord. He is guarded by assistants known as Ruin Kobold Sentinels. He's armed with an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars and when the last one enters red he switches to a curved sword type weaopn called a Talwar. His attack patterns will change as well." he explained. "Now then that concludes this briefing. Lastly items will be automatically distributed. EXP goes to the party that defeats the monster and whoever recieves an item keeps it. Any objections?" Players began talking among themselves but no one said anything too loudly. "Very well. We leave tomorrow morning at ten. I'll see you all then." The group looked around and saw the other players talking in within their parties while the Cures and Kirito noticed Asuna leave.

"We'll leave you for now. There's something we need to do. We'll meet up with you later." said Storm.

"Understood." said Kirito as the girls walked away and then he left.

"What's wrong?" asked Passion.

"I don't know." replied Storm. "It's like back when we first started together. Back when to when it came out at first." she said looking at Lemonade with a sad look. Lemonade then took her hand.

"You don't need to be sorry for what happened back then. After all you saved my life." said Lemonade.

"But in turn I caused you to become..."

"Like you?" asked Lemonade. "I really don't mind. In fact I'm happy about it because I can understand you a bit better." she said with a smile causing Storm to smile back. Then they heard a beep and Storm opened her message window.

"Who's it from this time?" asked Pine.

"Shawn. He says they managed to install a Cybermat Converter in The Arc." replied Storm.

"What does that mean?" asked Passion.

"If they're able to configure it properly they may be able to send us stuff. Most likely weapons from back home." replied Storm.

"I hope you do not take this the wrong way but how is it that he was able to do something like that. As far as I can tell Shawn never had the mind for the kind of technology that can convert solid matter into digital information." said Beauty.

"He didn't." replied Storm. "It was technology which was left behind by the Utroms after they left our earth. Donny created the Cybermat in their lair in order to find Splinter's data bits after he was blasted on their way back from 2105 which scattered him around the net. I think that if he got Donny to make something similar in the Arc it's possible they'll be able to send things. The only real issue is what if the game decides what we're sent is too dangerous or something and then deletes them." she explained.

"So what do we do?" asked Lemonade.

"In the message Shawn said that they're gonna test it and send a few things over so we should try to find what is being sent." replied Storm.

"How are we supposed to do that?" asked Beat.

"I was given something." said Moonlight causing them to turn to her as she pulled out a necklace which had a crystal. "He told me they'd try something like this and that they made this crystal which would detect anomolies which could be created by something being sent here."

"Is that possible?" asked Beat.

"Theoretically yes." replied Storm with a hand on her chin before turning to Moonlight. "Can you tell where it's coming from?"

"This way." replied Moonlight as she began walking followed by the others. A few minutes and a few battles later they arrived under a fairly large tree which had a box under it.

"Well at least they were able to send a box." said Beat.

"Let's take look at what's inside." said Storm as she pried the box open with her hands. Once she opened it they saw a number of things which were wrapped and marked with their civilian names. "Here." she said handing Passion a small object before handing out a number of others to the other Cures. As they opened them they saw there were lockets. Passion was the first to open hers and felt tears run down her face. Inside the locket on the left was a picture of Hayato and Shun where the two were smiling and on the right was a picture she had taken with Love, Miki and her adopted parents. Inside her's Moonlight saw a picture of her mom on the left while on the right was the picture that was taken of her and the other HeartCatch Pretty Cure just before their final confrontation with Dune. Inside Lemonade's was a picture of her dad and her grandfather on the left and a picture that was taken of her and her team, including Kurumi, Coco, Nuts, and Syrup, on the right. Within Pine's was a picture of her parents on the left and a picture of Love and Miki on the right. Inside Beat's was a picture of Otokichi-san on the left and a picture of Hibiki, Kanade, Ako, and Hummy on the right. Inside of Happy's were a picture of her parents on the left and a picture of Akane, Yayoi, and Nao on the right. And inside Beauty's was a picture of her family on the left and the same picture of the others from their team on the right. When each of them saw the pictures they all felt tears running down their faces.

"It's only been one month but..." began Moonlight.

"It almost feel like we've been here much more time." finished Beauty as she wiped a tear from her eyes. It was then Happy hugged Beauty who held her close and began patting her back to sooth her.

"What's in yours?" asked Lemonade. Storm opened hers and saw a picture of Shawn with a woman on the right while the left had a picture of all the Japanese Cures and the other eight members of her own team.

"The same." replied Storm. "Well now we have a greater incentive to fight the boss tomorrow. To get back to those who care about us."

"I think there's something else in the box." said Beat as she went in and the pulled something out.

"Is that...?" began Passion.

"I believe it is. Looks like we'll be able to go into battle tomorrow with a surprise." said Storm with a smile.

That night Kirito found Asuna eating some hard bread. After asking to join her he sat down next to her but she moved away. Then he pulled out a piece of bread and began eating.

"Do you really think this is good?" asked Asuna.

"Yeah." replied Kirito. "I've been eating at least once a day ever arriving here but I do change it up from time to time." he said as he pulled out a small container.

"Change it up?" asked Asuna as Kirito placed a container between them.

"Try the bread with some of this." said Kirito. Asuna tapped the top of the container causing a glowing sphere to form on her finger which she then put on her bread.

"Cream?" Asuna asked as Kirito put some on his own before eating. After Asuna finished the bread quickly.

"It's the reward for a quest called "The Heifer Strikes back" a village behind this one." explained Kirito. "If you wanna try it I can show you the trick."

"I didn't come to this town to eat good food." said Asuna.

"Then why did you?" asked Kirito.

"So I can still be me. I'd rather stay myself until the very end instead of sit and wait for death." replied Asuna.

"I know that feeling." said a voice. The two turned and saw the Cures approaching with Storm smiling.

"You're just lucky to know yourself enough to know why you're doing what you do." said Storm. "For part of my life I was nothing more than a tool who mindlessly did what I was told."

"Why?" asked Kirito.

"It's something personal." said Storm as she brought up her system screen. "Anyway here." she said bringing out a basket. "Since we'll be in battle tomorrow I thought we should eat together. Those single pieces of bread may not be enough and I made plenty of sandwiches so eat up you two."

"You do know that..." began Kirito.

"Food eaten here doesn't actually affect our actual bodies?" finished Storm. "The fact of the matter is if you think you're hungry you will be so eat."

"Well thanks then." said Kirito as he pulled out a very simple sandwich three cuts of meat. "This isn't bad. Try one." he told Asuna who looked at Storm.

"Go ahead." encouraged Storm. Asuna then nodded and took a sandwich which she bit. After the others also took one and they ate together.

"Is it okay if I ask you something?" asked Kirito.

"Sure." replied Storm.

"Why did you all put your names in the way you did?" asked Kirito.

"Well..." began Storm.

"I don't think it would really matter if we tell them the truth since no one knows of the Pretty Cure here." said Happy.

"Perhaps but we could still attract unwanted attention." said Beauty

"Alright how about this?" asked Storm. "I'll tell you but neither of you can tell anyone and I mean ANYONE about us or what I'm about to tell you. Can you swear you won't tell single soul here no matter what happens?"

"Uh sure. I swear." replied Kirito.

"How about you?" Moonlight asked Asuna.

"Alright."

"We're not from your universe. We're from another where there are multiple teams who bear the name Pretty Cure." began explaining Storm.

"Pretty Cure?" asked Kirito.

"That's right." continued Moonlight. "We're also known as the Legendary Warriors Pretty Cure. Each one of us is from a different team with the exception of Pine and Passion as well as Happy and Beauty who are each in their own team."

"I see." said Kirito unsure if he believed what they were told.

"You see we all gained the power the transform in order to protect something precious to us." said Lemonade. "We also have our own introductions."

"Really? What are they?" asked Kirito.

"The Fragrance of Bursting Lemon, Cure Lemonade."

"The Yellow Heart is the Symbol of Faith. Freshly Harvested, Cure Pine."

"The Scarlet Heart is the Proof of Happiness. Freshly Ripened, Cure Passion."

"The Flower That Glistens in the Light of the Moon, Cure Moonlight."

"Playing the Tune of the Soul, Cure Beat."

"Twinkling and Shining, the Light of the Future. Cure Happy."

"Snow Falling and Gathering, A Noble Heart. Cure Beauty."

"The Grand Flame of Rebirth, Cure FireStorm."

"So you each represent something different?" asked Kirito.

"That's right." replied Beat. "The other reason we gained our powers was to protect a different Fairy Land."

"Fairy Land?" asked Kirito.

"That's right." replied Lemonade. "My friends and I became Pretty Cure to protect the Kingdom of Palmier."

"We became Pretty Cure to protect the Sweets Kingdom." said Pine looking at Passion.

"I actually became a Pretty Cure to protect the Heart Tree but..." began Moonlight.

"It's okay." said Storm placing a hand on Moonlight's shoulder.

"I was originally a black cat from Major Land who was supposed to sing the Melody of Happiness but when my friend Hummy was chosen I felt betrayed so I went to King Mephisto in Minor Land. After he took the Legendary Score and rewrote the Melody of Happiness into the Melody of Sorrow I was supposed to sing it but Queen Aphrodite sent all the notes to a town on earth known as Kanon Town." said Beat looking down.

"So what happened?" asked Kirito.

"I was sent to earth along with Trio the Minor find the notes and when I was about to sing the Melody of Sorrow I saw the pain it was causing Hummy and I somehow changed from my cat form into a Pretty Cure." explained Beat. "Afterwards I felt lost because I realized what I had been doing was wrong but became happy when Hibiki and Kanade offered me their friendship. After that I fought along side them as Cure Beat to make up for the mistakes I made until we finally defeated Noise who had been wanting to elminate all sound."

"Wow." said Kirito.

"We became Pretty Cure to stop a villain by the name of Pierrot who wanted to change everyone's white future into a bad end." said Beauty.

"So you're all from different team?" asked Kirito. The girls nodded. "So who are the other Cures in your teams?"

"In mine there were orginally five of us total but after the defeat of the evil organization Nightmare we lost our powers but got them back when Eternal appeared." said Lemonade. "Other than me there's Dream, Rouge, Mint, Aqua, and Milky Rose."

"Other than Pine and me we have Peach and Berry."

"The other members of my team are Blossom, Marine, and Sunshine."

"In mine there's Melody, Rhythm, and Muse."

"In ours we have Sunny, Peace, and March." said Happy.

"My team's a little complicated." said Storm.

"Why?" asked Kirito.

"Well there's nine of us and we weren't born." replied Storm. "In our world there was an evil group known as the Cardivus Praecordia who were bent on the destruction of the world but their leaders were defeated by the nine Elementals and the twelve Legendary Cures and their leader were sealed away. Those who remained started an organization who used the advances in technology to create new soldier to work for them. Since the Elementals are always reborn they obtained DNA samples from them and began trying to create nine clones until they finally succeeded."

"Let me guess. Those nine clones were you and your team." said Kirito. Storm nodded.

"As clones of the Elementals we were created to kill them but before they ever implanted that idea in our minds they rescued us." continued Storm. "For a year we trained with them in different fighting styles including a martial art that focuses on unleashing one's own beast spirit known as Pai Zhua." she said pulling up her sleeve revealing what looked like a black tattoo of three claw marks. "I along with the rest of my team were tested or were supposed to be tested to become Masters but something happened."

"What?" asked Kirito becoming interested.

"Well prior to our tests were told the Japanese Pretty Cure they'd need to become stonger after they almost lost their powers because of the Cardivus so they began to train with us during the summer. Once that was over we decided to each keep an eye on a team so we began going to school with them. The test was gonna be that they were gonna pretend to attack the schools to test not only our skills, but our will to protect. Unfortunately the Cardivus found out and sent some enemies diguised as Pai Zhua the day before. We thought it was the test so we went along with it at first but then realized it was an actual attack so we fought back harder. Unfortunately we used up way more power than we had but we reached a whole new level of Pai Zhua. The Masters watched and after the battle decided that we were ready to become masters so we recieved our Master Stripes."

"But you all really scared us." said Lemonade.

"Why's that?" asked Kirito.

"Because of how were came to be our powers were limited. The fights became very long and we used up all our energy so even though we recieved our Master Stripes we all lost conciousness from injuries we sustained. It's actually how I got the second scar on my cheek." explained Storm pointing to the X on her cheek.

"How did you get the first?" asked Asuna surprising them.

"A few months prior to our meeting with them..." began Storm looking at the other Cures. "...I had the stupid idea that we could handle a mission in a remote region but things went horribly wrong. We were about to be destroyed when our originals stepped in and saved us. During the battle a piece of shrapnel made the first scar I had. Anyway they showed up and forced us back to the Arc by sacrificing themselves. At least that's what we thought at the time. After I blamed myself for what had happened since I was the one who said we could handle the mission."

"So what happened to your originals?" asked Kirito.

"Well at the time we became depressed because of a major realization." replied Storm. "You see the only way to seal the Cardivus away for good was with a powerful seal which had not been created prior to the first battle. The seal required the nine Elementals to sacrifice themselves but we thought they were dead and realized that it would have to be us. When the final battle finally came we fought as hard as we could and activated the seal. However when we were about to sacrifice ourselves they appeared and pulled us out. As it turns out they knew it was our battle to fight the Cardivus so while we thought they were dead they were actually hidden."

"So they died?" asked Kirito.

"Basically but Shawn, my original, the Elemental of Fire. Placed the Mark of the Phoenix on the others so they were able to use the Flames of Rebirth to come back." replied Storm. "Anyway the thing with my team is that our powers were unstable so they gave us small devices called Elemental Transformers or ElTrans for short. We were at first only able to use a fourth of our power. Later we found out we could gain new forms. You see at first I was only able to become Cure Ardeo. Then later I gained the ability to become Cure Inferno, Cure Phoenix, and last my current form which is Cure Fire Storm. The other members of my team went as followed. Cure Imber, Cure Aquatica, Cure Shark, and Cure Tsunami was our water Cure. Cure Zephyr, Cure Cyclone, Cure Falcon, and Cure Hurricane for our wind. Cure Vis, Cure Terra, Cure Rhino, and Cure Quake for our earth. Cure Rai, Cure Electrix, Cure Cheetah, and Cure Overload for lightning. Cure Anancites, Cure Titan, Cure Bison, and Cure Platinum for metal. Cure Eros, Cure Teki, Cure Swan, and Cure Cupid for love. Cure Lumen, Cure Angel, Cure Tiger, and Cure Celestia for light. And last Cure Tenebrae, Cure Shadow, Cure Wolf, and Cure Shroud for darkness."

"Hold on." said Kirito. "As far as I know love, lightning, metal, light, and darkness aren't elements."

"You'd be surprised." said Storm. "You see fire and wind fall under light while water and earth fall under dark. You know. Light of day and dark of knight? Anyway metal is actually a natural element which appears on earth and lightning...well I don't think I need to explain."

"What about love?" asked Asuna.

"Originally there were only eight but..." began Storm.

"You know about cupid, right?" asked Lemonade.

"The western baby in the diaper who shoots arrow that make people fall in love?" asked Kirito.

"Yeah well cupid's not a baby archer in a diaper." replied Storm. "She's actually the daughter of Venus who asked for permission from her mother to join the Elementals. She's also not an archer. Well she is but she doesn't use arrows. She's an empath who is able to sense anything from people around her and likes to help them out."

"Wow." said Kirito.

"You don't fully believe what we've just told you, do you?" asked Storm.

"Well it's a little hard to believe." replied Kirito. "But there was that thing with the chains Lemonade did earlier."

"I just remembered we left out Black, White, Luminous, Bloom, and Egret." said Lemonade.

"Who are they?" asked Kirito.

"Two other teams. Black, White, and Shiny Luminous are one team while Bloom and Egret are another." replied Storm.

"So that chain thing. Can you all do it or...?" asked Kirito.

"No. That's something only Lemonade can do." replied Storm. "Although there are powers we share."

"Like what?" asked Kirito.

"Enhanced strength, enhanced speed, high endurance, and peak level reflexes." replied Storm.

"Wait. I understand that you have powers but why are you able to use them?" asked Kirito. "As far as I know a person who plays SAO will only have the power their avatar gains through battle and quests."

"Long story short there was a race of aliens who crashed on our earth around a thousand years ago. They befriended four mutant turtles we had the honor to fight along side of. After they returned they left quite a bit of technology which they used and my original used some of it to modify it to allow us the use of our powers here. He also used the computer that's implanted in my cerebral cortex to allow us the ability to use not only our attacks but the attacks of the others so long as we meet certain conditions."

"Wait up. Four mutant turtles?" asked Kirito in disbelief.

"That's a story for another time." said Storm. "The point is our NerveGears are modified so our powers work here. The issue is there's a limitation."

"What limitation?" asked Beat.

"We have our strength but because our characters are still bound by the rules of SAO we have certain limits. From what I can tell we're strong enough to cause physical pain but not strong enough to cause much damage."

"You're still gonna help, aren't you?" asked Kirito.

"Of course." said Passion. "That's what we do."

"I just hope our training is of use during battle." said Storm.

"We'll find out once the battle begins." said Moonlight.

"You really are the wisest among us." said Storm.

"It's just experience." said Moonlight. "Let's just hope it's enough."

The following morning the large group ventured through the forest. The ten walked behind the larger group as they began to go over the plan. As they walked Storm stopped causing them to stop as well.

"Is something wrong?" asked Kirito.

"I smell something." replied Storm sniffing the air. "Blood."

"But that's impossible. Players can't bleed here. It's all virtual." said Kirito.

"Perhaps but one must not forget to trust their own senses." said Beauty.

"Let's keep going before they get worried." said Storm as they kept walking. On the way Lemonade noticed that Storm's eyes changed for a split second before returning to normal. Not long after they arrived at the doors of the boss room where they stopped and Diabel turned to the whole group.

"Listen up everyone." said Diabel. "I only have one thing to say. Let's win. Now let's go!" After he opened the door revealing a large dark room.

"I hate have to fight in a large dark room." said Storm.

"How come?" asked Lemonade. "You always seem to do best in the dark."

"Just because I do stealth doesn't mean I like it." countered Storm as they entered and saw a creature sitting at the end of the room. Within seconds the room lit up and the creature jumped forward revealing it to be a large red demon like creature which had a large stomach and wore armor on its knees and had a large belt which covered its waist a little below along with a large axe like weapon and a shield. As it roared the words Illfang the Kobold Lord appeared above it as four health bars appeared near its head. After three smaller fully armored demons appeared each holding what looked like a mace. Then the four charged.

"Everyone Attack!" yelled out Diabel causing a few of the parties to charge in. Diabel continued to order the squads who were fighting Illfang before ordering the others to move in and attack the small fry. It only took Kirito and Asuna working in tandem to take out one of the smaller creatures but another jumped and tried to attack Kirito. He readied his weapon when Storm jumped in and caught it. After she flipped over it before flipping it and slamming it down before she drew her sword and pierced its head.

"Thanks." said Kirito.

"Don't thank me yet. We've still got big red to take care of." said Storm noticing Illfang's health was down to less than half its last bar. After the creature gave a feral roar before discarding its weapon and shield and drawing the weapon on its lower back.

"Looks like the information was right." said Kibaou.

"Everyone stand back. I'm going in." said Diabel as he charged in surprising everyone.

"What does that idiot think he's doing?" asked Storm.

"We were supposed to surround it and then attack." said Kirito as Diabel charged his weapon. Then Illfang drew its second weapon which caused Kirito's eyes to widen. "That's not a Talwar. It's a No-Dachi. It's not the same as in the Beta Test." he said as he started trying to run towards Diabel. "Get back!" he called out as Illfang jumped onto a column and then to another moving around very quickly until it came down and slashed Diabel. After it ran behind him and slashed him again.

"Diabel!" called out Kibaou as Illfang landed in front of his squad.

"Diabel!" called out Kirito as he ran toward the fallen player.

"Stay in formation. I'll go check." said Storm as she ran towards Kirito.

"Understood." said Lemonade. Once they got to him Kirito picked up Diabel's head as he saw his health bar drop slowly.

"Why did you try to do it alone?" asked Kirito as he pulled out a bottle he was about to give to Diabel who stopped him.

"You were a beta tester, weren't you?" asked Diabel. "You know what I was doing."

"You were after the last attack bonus item. You were a Beta Tester too?" Diabel smiled.

"Please...defeat...defeat the boss. For everyone." said Diabel as he began to fade before shattering in Kirito's arms leaving everyone in shock. Kirito stood up and turned while Storm clenched her fists. Illfang roared again causing the other players to panic. At that Asuna and the other Cures went up to the two.

"I'll go with you." said Asuna.

"Thanks." said Kirito.

"You go too. I think something's wrong with Storm." said Lemonade noticing Storm's fists. The eight charged in to attack but when they got close something deflected their attack. Everyone looked in shock as ten large creatures with long needles that had a clear oval shaped thing near the top and a spiral within appeared in front of and above Illfang.

"What are those things?" asked a player.

"Are those?" asked Beat.

"Bloodysquitos." said Moonlight.

"Bloodysquitos?" asked Kirito. "What are they?"

"They're creatures from the Darkness Civilization Land from another earth." replied Moonlight. Suddenly everyone heard a scream and turned to Storm who held her head in pain.

"Hey! What's wrong?" asked Kirito. It was then that one of the Bloodysquitos charged in and attacked Asuna which forced the eight to jump back. Even though it didn't his Asuna it ripped her cloak forcing her to discard it revealing her long red hair.

"Are you okay?" asked Lemonade.

"Stand back." said Storm. Lemonade nodded and stepped back as a black aura began extending from her back.

"What is that?" asked Kirito.

"Her Keshin." replied Beat as the energy now seemed to be coming out of her back took the form of a woman in a red dress which had flames on all the edges, long red hair, a flaming cape, glowing red eyes, and a large red and black sword.

"Emperor of Dancing Flames, Nero!" called out Storm.

"You're not doing this alone." said Lemonade as another dark aura form around her. This one took the shape of an angel in a white dress with large wings and rainbow colored hair. "Angel of Prismatic Light, Clear!"

"We're going to." said Moonlight. The other five Cures nodded as a dark aura formed around all six. Behind Moonlight the aura took the form of a pale woman with a white dress, white gloves, and snow white hair. "Goddess of the Shining Moon, Phoebe!"

Behind Passion the aura took the form of a female knight in red armor with long red hair who held a sword with a red gem, behind Pine the aura formed an angel with light blond hair who had a white robe and a what looked like a necklace, behind Beat the aura formed an angel with light blue hair in a violet dress who held a navy blue guitar, behind Beauty an angel formed who wore what looked to be a white jacket and had long hair while holding two swords, and behind Happy a formed a four winged angel in a light pink and white dress with pink hair who held a large red sword.

"Scarlet Knight of Happiness, Laetus!" called out Passion.

"Angel of Celestial Prayer, Exoro!" called out Pine.

"Angel of the Soulful Beat, Lyra!" called out Beat.

"Angel Guardian of Happiness, Alacris!" called out Happy.

"Angel of Fallen Snow, Liberalis!" called out Beauty.

"Ready?" asked Storm. The Cures nodded.

"Armed!" called out all eight causing their Keshins to fly up before becoming energy which flew down and became armor worn by the Cures which matched the Keshin's clothes in color.

"Kirito. Asuna. We'll take the Bloodysquitos. Once you find an opening take Illfang down. Understood?" said Storm. The two nodded. At that the nine Cures jumped up and drew their equipped swords.

"Imperial Spear!" called out Storm as she dove down while holding out her sword as she was engulfed in fire. This allowed her to pierce one of the Bloodysquitos thought the middle causing it to shatter. "Game, set, match."

"Rainbow Shooting Star!" called out Lemonade as she flew causing a rainbow streak appeared behind her and she flew through another Bloodysquito causing it to shatter.

"Scarlet Spectral Blade!" called out Passion as she seemingly disappeared from in front of it and reappeared behind a Bloodysquito. This caused six red spikes to appear around it which then pierced it shattering it.

"Lunar Slash!" called out Moonlight as she cross slashed another Bloodysquito causing it to shatter.

"Pure Heart!" called out Pine as she flew straight though a Bloodysquito shattering it.

"Metal Resonater!" called out Beat waving her hand causing an extremely loud sound wave which shattered another Bloodysquito.

"Happy Rain!" called out Happy as she waved her hand causing several pink lights to form where her hand had moved before they shot straight at a Bloodysquito.

"Blizzard Tempest!" called out Beauty as she slashed the Bloodysquito several times. After she turned as the Bloodysquito began freezing from the inside before shattering.

After their attacks hit their armors disappeared and Kirito and Asuna charged in to attack only for the two remaining Bloodysquitos to swoop in. They were stopped, however, by Storm and Lemonade who punched them into a wall allowing them to keep going.

"Ready?" Storm asked Lemonade.

"Ready." replied Lemonade.

"Mix-Trans!" called out the two as an orange aura formed around the two. From this Storm's hair became longer and white along with her eyes while Lemonade's became longer and red along with her eyes.

"Tsunami!" called out Storm.

"Rouge!" called out Lemonade.

"You two keep going. We'll take care of the last two." said Celestia Fire Storm.

"Let's go." said Kirito as he and Asuna charged in. Then as Illfang tried to slash Kirito he counter slashed knocking both of them back. "Switch!" he called out as Asuna charged in and pierced it. After the two kept going and switched. That was until Illfang tried to slash at Asuna which was when Kirito began blocking its blade. However one of his moves left him open and Illfang slashed Kirito throwing him into Asuna. It was about to slash Asuna when something knocked it back. Asuna looked up and saw it was Agil.

"We'll hold him off until you recover." said Agil as the other charged.

"Everyone. Help them out." said Storm as she dodged an attack from a Bloodysquito.

"Roger." called out the other Cures. While those with weapons drawn attracted Illfang's attention the Cures attacked its head. It wasn't long before it threw them all back with one swing of its sword.

"Look out!" called out Kirito as he charge in and slashed it up. After it hit he and Asuna charged in together.

"Lemonade let's end this." said Storm as she began glowing.

"Right." said Lemonade as her hands formed fire.

"Photon Flame Extreme!" called out Storm as she flew through one of the remaining Boodysquitos causing a light from inside it to shatter it.

"Fire Prism Chain!" called out Lemonade as long fire chains formed in her hands which she used to strike the last Bloodysquito several times destroying it. At the same time Kirito and Asuna attacked together in tandem until Kirito finally destroyed it. After he collapsed in exhaustion as everyone else cheered. Lemonade and Storm landed but Storm looked down.

"We won." said Lemonade quietly.

"But at what cost?" asked Storm. "A lot of these people are still amateurs to death battles."

"Isn't that part of the reason we're here?" asked Moonlight as she placed a hand on Storm's shoulder. "Do not dispair. This is about survival and while we may not have the power to save everyone but we can continue to fight for the sake of those fallen."

"I suppose you're right." said Storm as she looked at her window. "That's weird."

"What?" asked Beat.

"This." replied Storm checking her item storage and pulled up an item she'd just recieved.

"Isn't it normal to recieve items after a battle in this kind of game?" asked Beat.

"Not like this. Check it out." replied Storm turning her screen. Beat looked at the item name which was Emblem of the Phoenix Wing.

"I don't understand. What's strange about it?" asked Beat.

"For one thing it doesn't have any kind of stat boost." replied Storm. "In this kind of game anything you get after battle will provide some kind of boost even if it's small."

"Perhaps it is an item from outside of the game." suggested Beauty as she approached Storm and looked at the window. It was then they heard someone yell out.

"Why?!" They turned and saw Kibaou. "Why did you let Diabel die?"

"Let him die?" asked Kirito.

"Of course! You know that technique the boss used!" yelled out Kiboau. "If you'd told us about that up from her wouldn't have died!"

"He must've been a Beta Tester! That's how he knew all the boss's attack patterns." said one player. "He knew but didn't tell us! Other Beta Testers are here too, right? Like you!" he said turning to the Cures.

"Sorry but this is the first time we've tried something like this." replied Storm.

"Then how is it you were able to beat those things?" asked the player.

"In case you didn't notice those things had no health bar which means they weren't part of the game." replied Storm. "Someone's messing with the game to throw in things that weren't part of this world originally." The players stood silent for a moment before they heard a laugh and turned to Kirito.

"Beta Tester?" asked Kirito. "I'd prefer it if you didn't compare me to those newbs."

"W-what?" asked Kibaou.

"Most of the thousand Beta Testers were beginners who didn't even know how to level up." said Kirito as he walked towards the large group of players. "You're all better than them. But I'm not like them. I made it higher than anyone else in the Beta Test. The reason I knew is because I fought monsters with Katana skills in floors far above us. And I know a lot more."

"What's he doing?" asked Happy.

"Something stupidly noble." replied Storm.

"I know way more than any Information Broker." continued Kirito.

"W-what?" asked Kibaou in shock. "That's way worse than any other Beta Tester. You're cheating!"

"Yeah. A cheater!" began calling out the other players.

"A Beta Tester and a cheater. A Beater!" called out one player.

"A Beater? I like that." said Kirito. "That's right. I'm a Beater." he said pulled up his inventory screen. "From now on don't confuse me with the others." he said as he equipped the item he'd just aquired causing a black coat to materialize on him. After he looked at everyone and then began walking away. Shortly after Asuna followed as did the Cures until Storm turned around and went up to Agil who looked at her surprised. After she placed a hand on his arm causing a glow. When she removed her hand he saw a red bird on his arm as she walked away before she turned and held out her hand causing a bright flash of light which left everyone except Agil dazed.

"Hold on." said Asuna who had caught up to Kirito. "You called my name during the battle."

"Sorry about using your first name. Or did I mess up the pronounciation?" said Kirito.

"How did you know it?" asked Asuna causing the other Cures to facepalm.

"You can see another HP gauge below yours, right?" asked Kirito with his finger up. "Around here. Isn't something written next to it?" Asuna looked.

"Kirito. Kirito." she pronounced his name. "Is that your name?"

"Yeah." replied Kirito.

"Oh. So it's been there all this time." said Asuna with a light laugh.

"You'll become really strong so if someone you trust ever invites you to join a guild I'd suggest you accept." said Kirito. "There's a limit to what you can do as a solo player."

"What about you?" asked Asuna as Storm went up to them. Kirito turned to her and she nodded and pulled up her system menu before disbanding the party. After he went to the entrance to the next floor and opened it. When he was about to walk in Storm placed a hand on his shoulder.

"That was a pretty stupid thing to do but I see why you did it." said Storm. "I hope when you become stronger we can have a fight. One on one so don't die." Kirito turned and then smiled.

"I've got no intention of dying in this death game so you'd better stay alive too if you intend to fight me some day." said Kirito. Storm smirked.

"Fire burns through my veins even here so you don't have to worry about me giving up or dying." replied Storm. After Kirito walked through the door.

"What are you thinking?" asked Moonlight.

"He'll make a great ally in what's to come but he'll have to get over that guilt." replied Storm. "For now let's go. We'll leave him be until he actually needs help. Until then we should keep getting stronger." she said before turning to the others. "Right?"

"I have no intention of falling behind." said Passion. "I've fought from when I left Labrynth and I'll fight now."

"That's part of why we're here, afterall." said Lemonade. The other smiled and nodded.

"Let's go." said Storm.

"Hold on." said Asuna causing them to turn. "Will we meet again?"

"The mark on your hand will enable me to find you whereever you may be so you can be sure we'll meet again." replied Storm before they kept walking and stepped through.

To Be Continued...

* * *

Author's Note

I thank everyone who's read and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I get this might be a kinda stupid reason to put an A/N but I put this here for another reason. As you may have noticed even though Kirito's the protagonist of SAO I've been focusing more on the Cures. From the next chapter on their interaction with Kirito will be limited as this story will mostly focus on the Cures. I'm not getting rid of him or anything of the sort but their paths won't cross constantly since most of us know Kirito become more than strong enough to handle himself in battle. Another thing is that in the same way I have some couples here I'm planning on adding some more. An example would be that I'm thinking about having Moonlight/Yuri gain an interest in Agil and vice versa. I'd like reader opinions on things like this. I should also mention that I do not own the Bloodysquitos. They're from a different series. Can you guess which one?


	3. A Black Christmas

Pretty Cure All Stars Enter The Virtual World

Disclaimer

I do not own anything having to do with SAO nor do I own the characters, concepts or powers in Pretty Cure. I only own the OCs.

Chapter 3 A Black Christmas

Floor 20: Sunlit Forest

Beat slashed a mantis creature upwards before it had a chance to slash at her.

"That's one more." said Beat happily.

"Just don't let it go to your head." said Storm as she leaned on a tree as a screen appeared in front of Beat.

Congratulations!  
LV Up! Beat

Level Up

42 43

"Alright!" said Beat excited. Currently the group was fighting any creatures they found since arriving in the Twentieth Floor. For the most part they'd fight with the same number of creatures who appeared to keep things as even as possible. So far they'd all been able to level up exponentially allowing them to gain a good boost in their skills and stats. They'd also changed their attires to something which matched their Cure uniforms a bit more. At least most of them did. Lemonade's battle attire consisted if a yellow battle dress with a which had a knee length skirt that was open in a similar fashion to Cure Windy's but in yellow, dark yellow boots, elbow high yellow fingerless gloves, and she now kept her hair tied in two pig tails similar to her civilian form. Pine now wore a dark yellow boots with a yellow near knee length skirt a top which was similar to the top of her uniform, metallic wristbands, and she had her hair tied in its usual tail. Passion had a red battle dress which had chest armor, red armored boots, and a necklace with a ruby. Moonlight also had a battle dress but hers was a whitish violet color, matching boots, and purple fingerless gloves which were suggested to her by Storm. Beat wore a blue armored top with a navy blue trenchcoat, a blue skirt, and blue boots. Happy had a pink skirt with a top similar to the one she had in her Cure uniform but with chest armor instead of a bow, dark pink fingerless gloves, and light pink armored boots. Beauty had a blue armored top that had included armor on her right shoulder, light blue elbow length gloves, blue knee length boots, a blue skirt, and a navy blue trenchcoat. Storm wore light red pants, what looked like an 18th century top with a closed collar, a dark red trenchcoat, small red boots, and dark red fingerless gloves. All of them had swords equipped with some of them having switched weapons which most of them had on their left sides, with the exception of Storm who had her's on her back. Moonlight took preference to using a Rapier while both Pine and Passion now had long swords as did Storm who also had a long sword that was wider than an average long sword.

"Hey do you hear that?" asked Pine.

"What?" asked Lemonade.

"I hear it too." said Storm. "A battle not far from here."

"Should we go?" asked Passion. Instead of replying Storm jumped onto one of the trees and looked down at the others.

"Who's coming?" she asked before taking off via the trees. The others sighed and then followed. Not long after they stopped at a tree that allowed them a view of a party with six players fighting another mantis.

"What do we do?" asked Lemonade.

"We watch." replied Storm. "Look who's down there." she said pointing to someone in black. The group looked and saw Kirito. They saw as the creature slashed at someone with a shield. After they saw Kirito step in and slash off its right blade. Then they saw someone with a hammer strike its waist causing the mantis to shatter. The group began celebrating when Moonlight turned to Storm who jumped off the tree. The team below didn't noticed her until she hit the ground on her feet landing hard enough to shake the ground.

"Shawn was right. I have the subtlty of a cannon." said Storm as she looked around at the shocked group. "Hi."

"Who are you?" asked a player in brownish red clothes and armor on the upper half of his body.

"Firestorm but call me Storm for short." she replied.

"Are you a bandit or something?" asked a short blue haired girl in whitish blue clothes.

"We've got Kirito with us so don't try anything." said a guy in yellow.

"That's actually why I came." said Storm as the others landed behind her. "Kirito's a good friend of ours so we thought we'd say hello."

"How did you know I was here?" asked Kirito.

"We weren't paying attention to that at first. We were fighting in that direction." replied Storm pointing to the direction they'd come from. "We heard a fight here and came to check it out and lo and behold we see you here." she explained. "It's been a while."

"Yeah it has." said Kirito. "Are you still using those Keshins of yours in battle?"

"Keshins?" asked the blue haired girl.

"We refrain from going that far unless its necessary." replied Beauty.

"Excuse me." said the blue haired girl. "What's a Keshin?"

"Something that's tricky." replied Storm. "It's something that I guess could be described as the spiritual embodiment of a persion's heart."

"How much did you level up to get one?" asked the guy in yellow.

"It's not a game thing." replied Beat.

"Could you show us?" asked the blue haired girl.

"I guess it's okay." said Happy turning to Storm who shrugged.

"We can show you one but you have to swear you won't tell anyone." said Storm. The team of five looked at each other before looking at Kirito who nodded.

"We swear." they said.

"Lemonade?" asked Storm.

"Alright." said Lemonade as a dark aura formed around her body which extended from her back and took form. "Angel of Prismatic Light, Clear!" she called out. The other team looked in shock at the rainbow haired angel.

"How did you gain that?" asked the blue haired girl.

"Hang on a sec." said Storm.

"Is something wrong?" asked Kirito. Storm sniffed the air.

"It smells like burnt leather."

"Burnt leather?" asked Kirito.

"How can you tell?" asked the blue haired girl.

"Something's weird." said Storm ignoring the question.

"What do you mean?" asked Kirito.

"It's like the smell was here one second and gone the next." replied Storm.

"Is that possible?" asked the blue haired girl.

"Theoretically if one's fast enough a smell wouldn't stick around long." replied Storm.

"But for someone to move fast enough for a scent to only last a second isn't possible as far as I know." said Kirito.

"As far as you understand." said Storm. "Most people are limited only by their own barriers. That's why many don't learn to do things with what they've got other than what they've seen." she said.

"So it is possible to be that fast?" asked Kirito. He looked and saw Storm was gone. "Where did she...?"

"And I'm back." said Storm seemingly reappearing next to Kirito startling him.

"So you're fast enough to move from there to here without being noticed. Not bad." said Kirito.

"No actually I headed back to town and brought this." replied Storm holding a necklace with a sapphire on it.

"How do I know you didn't just get that out of your inventory or an item pouch?" asked Kirito.

"Because that belongs to me." replied Beauty. "I left it in my room at the Inn we're staying." she said as Storm handed Beauty the necklace.

"Anyway we need to get going to investigate something so we'll see you around." said Storm.

"Alright." said Kirito as he held out his hand. Storm smiled and shook his hand before they left.

"What are we investigating?" asked Beat. "There are very few people who are able to move fast enough to leave a scent for only a second and I can bet it'd be no one from this world."

"So it would have to be someone from our world." said Moonlight. Storm nodded. "Any suspects?"

"There's a few speedsters other than myself but very few who could leave a scent like burnt leather since because there aren't that many who can create friction as they run." replied Storm.

"If I recall correctly other than you the only other speedsters who can leave behind a burnt scent would be Shawn and your brother, correct?" asked Beauty.

"That's right and I doubt Shawn came here secretly since he's the "let them handle themselves" kind of guy." replied Storm. "That only leaves Wes."

"But how do we find him?" asked Happy.

"Good question." said Storm. "He can run more time than I can at high speeds since his speed doesn't originate from fire manipulation and he's very tricky."

"I guess there's a reason that his animal spirit's a fox." said Passion.

"Any idea where to start?" asked Lemonade.

"Well for one thing we know he's on this floor." replied Storm.

"True but each floor is very large." said Beauty.

"Best place to start would be where we know there are players since that would be where he'd have to have been seen there upon arrival." said Storm. After the group headed to the village. On the way Storm noticed Moonlight looked a it down so she got closer. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." replied Moonlight trying to not look down.

"You feel bad about not having spent Christmas with your mom, don't you?" asked Storm. Moonlight looked down. The others noticed but figured it might be better to let them talk since they all coped with not having spent Christmas with their loved ones and were still doing it but during that time Moonlight was the only one who seemed unaffected at the time.

"I know Haru's taking care of her but it's the first Christmas I spent away from her." said Moonlight.

"For what it's worth I'm sorry." said Storm.

"It's not your fault." Moonlight. "I agreed to come n this mission knowing it might take a long time. I was actually flattered you chose me."

"Well out of everyone in Japan you're one of the Cures with the most experience. It would've been stupid not to ask you." said Storm as they arrived at the village.

"Where should we start?" asked Pine.

"Well there's eight of us so let's split into group of four." said Storm. "We'll split up, ask around, and meet up at that café near the center of town. Everyone agree?" The other nodded and they split up. Storm and Lemonade headed one way, Passion and Beat another, Pine and Moonlight a third, and Happy and Beauty in the last.

"So why did you want Pine to go with Moonlight?" asked Lemonade.

"Well Buki's the most empathic person in this group and she's also the one who can adapt the best to any situation." replied Storm. "I just hope Buki can help Yuri."

"Well it was very thoughtful." said Lemonade as she took Storm's hand who smiled.

"You know I wasn't happy when Shawn told me you, Passion, and Beat would be coming I wasn't completely happy but having you close has made me happy. I don't know if I could've gone this long if you weren't here." said Storm.

"Well we've been together for over two years." said Lemonade. "I have to admit something though. Back when we just started going out I was surprised when Reika asked Miyuki out on a date."

"Personally I wasn't." replied Storm. "When we were shown the footage of all the teams of Japanese Pretty Cure I noticed that after Reika became Cure Beauty she seemed to have a gleam in her eyes whenever she was with Miyuki. The others never seemed to notice it but I guess it's because Reika's always been extremely disiplined from what Nao said. I was actually more surprised about the fact that even Nao didn't notice given how long they've known each other."

"But in the end they wound up together and even went on a first date to Paris." said Lemonade.

"I still feel kinda bad it became a double date though." said Storm.

"Well we were all new to not just dating but dating girls." said Lemonade. "I had a lot of fun that day."

"You know we're starting to get caught up in the past and we're supposed to be asking around." said Storm.

"Oh my gosh you're right." said Lemonade. After they began asking different people if they'd seen someone matching Wes' discription.

Pine and Moonlight were walking actually focusing to the task at hand and asking around. Most people didn't recognize Wes' discription and after a few minutes they sat down on a bench to take a break.

"You know why Storm had us team up, don't you?" asked Pine.

"I assume because she wants me to talk to you about the slight bit of guilt I feel about not having spent Christmas with my mother." replied Moonlight. "It's funny. Sometimes Storm can be unpredictable but other times she isn't all that inconspicious."

"So do you wanna talk about it?" asked Pine.

"I suppose." said Moonlight. "I just haven't been away from my mother on Christmas since I spent all that time in France searching for my father. I know that Haru's with her but I..."

"I know how you feel." said Pine. "Most of us do. We've all got families that we didn't get to spend Christmas with."

"That's true but..."

"Don't forget that we're all in this together so if you need anyone to talk to you don't need to ask." interupted Pine with a smile.

"I suppose that's true." said Moonlight with a smile. "Let's keep asking around."

"Right." said Pine.

Beat and Passion were also focusing on asking around but were also thinking about a few other things.

"Well I guess that's another who hasn't seen him." said Beat. "Passion?" she asked turning to the scarlet Cure who seemed distracted. "Passion." she said tapping the other Cure's shoulder.

"W-what? What happened?" asked Passion.

"You spaced out." replied Beat. "Are you okay?"

"Yes I'm okay. Sorry." replied Passion. "It's just thinking about how Moonlight was missing her mom made me..."

"You're thinking about the Momozono's, right?" asked Beat.

"Yeah." replied Passion. "Since I returned and they took me back in I felt very happy. Especially with how much faith Love had in me."

"She's a good person." said Beat.

"One of the best people I've ever met." said Passion. "She's the best sister I could've wished for."

"It's kind of funny." said Beat.

"What is?" asked Passion a little confused.

"A few of us thought you and Love might end up dating." replied Beat.

"Really?"

"Well the two of you are really close." said Beat.

"That's true but she's been more of a sister than anything." said Passion. "Like on my first day of school." Hearing this caused Beat to laugh a little.

"What's so funny?"

"It's nothing." replied Beat. "I was just remembering how nervous I was the day before I started school in Kanon Town."

"From what I heard you were more than nervous." said Passion.

"Well I..." began Beat.

"You stayed up all night and you kind of overdid your introduction." said Passion. "At least that's what I heard."

"Well they said I had to write my name big." said Beat in her defense.

"I think they meant big enough to be read by the others not big enough to cover the board." said Passion with a light laugh.

"Well no one explained that." said Beat with a pout.

"Hibiki and Kanade are right." said Passion. "Almost anything you do is cute." Hearing this caused Beat to start blushing which also caused Passion to laugh a bit more before she poked the lavender haired musician's cheek. Beat blushed bright and looked to the side.

"Mou. Come on. Let's keep asking." said Beat as she walked ahead. Passion sighed and followed.

Happy and Beauty had been asking but decided to take a break on a bench.

"This sucks." said Happy as she kicked.

"Do not forget that patience is a virtue." said Beauty.

"I know but..." began Happy as Beauty took her hand and kissed it.

"I understand it has been long but do not forget that we have a mission." said Beauty.

"I know." said Happy. "I'm just glad to have you here."

"And I am glad I am here with you." said Beauty as she hugged her partner.

"That's so sweet." said a voice. The two turned to see a short girl with brown hair that went down to her waist along with bangs, orange eyes, and a red headband on the top of her head who wore a near knee length skirt with an orange armored top and a sword on her lower back.

"Ka..." began Happy before the girl covered her mouth.

"Call me Dawn here." she said.

"Very well." said Beauty. "What are you doing here Dawn?"

"Right now I'm delivering a message." said Dawn with a smile. "Shun wants to meet you in front of a shop east of the café in the center of town. Fifth building to the left."

"Very well. We'll be there." said Beauty.

"Good. See you then." said Dawn as she left skipping.

"I know she's on our side but she scares me sometimes." said Happy.

"Well she was one of the most viscious and deadliest foes we ever had since becoming Pretty Cure." said Beauty. "In any case we should go and meet up with the others to give them the message."

"Let's go." said Happy.

Afterwards the two left to meet up with the others. When they arrived at the café they saw they were the third group to arrive and saw they were sitting at a table outside with tea cups. Those who had arrived before them were Storm, Lemonade, Pine, and Moonlight.

"Hey." said Storm as she waved at them. The two went up to them and pulled up a pair of chairs before sitting down. "Any luck on your end?"

"Actually we did." said Beauty. "We found Dawn here."

"Dawn as in Kayo?" asked Storm. The two nodded.

"She had a message." said Happy.

"What was it?" asked Pine. Just as Happy was about to say Storm raised her hand.

"Let's wait for Beat and Passion first." said Storm. The others nodded and ordered some tea. They waited a few minutes when the two missing Cures finally arrived.

"Sorry for being late but we found a weapon shop that had really good weapons." said Passion.

"It was my fault. I got caught up looking around." said Beat.

"Don't worry about it." said Storm. "For now it seems that Happy and Beauty ran into Dawn and they have a message from her."

"Dawn?" asked Beat.

"You mean Kayo?" aske Passion. The group nodded.

"So what's the message?" asked Storm.

"Shun wants to meet us at a shop east of here fifth building to the left." said Beauty.

"Alright." said Storm. "Just give me a sec." she said going inside the café. A minute after she stepped out. "Alright let's go." After that they left.

"Why did you go inside?" asked Pine.

"I got us a snack for later." replied Storm as they headed in the instructed direction. A minute or two of walking they stopped at a shop which they entered.

"Hello and welcome to Usui's Rare Item Shop. How may I help you?" asked a black haired teen in a grey shirt. "Oh. Storm-san."

"Hey Usui." said Storm. "We got a message to meet someone here."

"Ah yes. There's a Mr. Shun waiting for you in the back room." said Usui as he jumped over the counter. "Please follow me." he said leading them to a door at the back of the shop. After he opened the door which led into what look like a closet. Then he elbowed the wall to his left causing the wall to open before stepping back allowing the eight Cures to enter. Inside they saw a large room which had several tables lined side by side.

"Hey little sis." said a guy with red hair who an outfit similar to Storm's minus the trenchcoat and with red gloves.

"Why are you here?" asked Storm.

"We haven't seen each other in months and the first thing you ask when you see me is 'Why are you here?'" asked Shun with a smirk. Storm glared. "Alright fine. Jeez. Listen Shawn sent me as back up for you."

"Not just you, is it?" asked Storm. "No matter how much Shawn trusts either of us he'd never send one or two people as back up."

"That's true." said Shun. "Alright everyone. Come on out." he said. At that one of the walls opened and out of it five girls stepped out. The first they recognized as Dawn. The second had somewhat long tealish hair, grey eyes, and wore a grey skirt with a matching armored top and silver forearm armor. The third had long red hair in a somewhat odd looking ponytail and wore a red skirt with a white armored top that had some red. The fourth had hair similar to the previous one but was blond and wore a short yellow skirt with a whitish yellow armored top. The last looked significantly younger and had long orangish red hair with pink eyes and wore a yellow skirt with a yellow long sleeve armored top.

"How did Usui afford a secret room in the back of a shop with two secret entrances?" asked Storm.

"He does sell expensive items." said Lemonade.

"Alright so back on track." said Shun. "I believe everyone knows everyone but for the sake of the game this is the rest of my team here Dawn, Chie, Ace, Peace, and Muse." he introduced the team each of whom nodded in the order described.

"You're a dork sometimes. You know that?" said Storm.

"Hey I'm just trying to keep the game going." said Shun.

"Whatever." said Storm. "So you're our back up?"

"That's right." said Ace.

"There's more though." said Peace turning to Shun who nodded. He opened up his system menu and then went into his inventory. After a box appeared which Shun turned and opened revealing eight crystals.

"What are they?" asked Storm.

"Shawn called them Synchronizers." replied Shun.

"Wait. Why didn't he send them to us directly?" asked Storm.

"He couldn't locate you." replied Shun.

"So how do these 'Synchronizers' work?" asked Beauty.

"You know how we're still tied to the rules of SAO?" asked Peace. The eight nodded. "Well Shawn made these so that the you here could synchronize with the you who's asleep to give you access to you full powers."

"I assume there's some kind of condition or cost of their use." said Beauty.

"Kinda." said Shun. "The crystals won't work until you reach level 77."

"Why 77?" asked Lemonade.

"Because that's the lowest level from here that can match your powers on earth." replied Ace. "We've all got one since he sent them all together."

"I've gotta say I really hate when he does things like this without telling me." said Storm.

"I don't see why. You've been around the guy for more than a year." said Shun.

"I suppose you're right." said Storm. "So have you been following us or...?"

"Nah. We've been just leveling up to access our Synchronizers." said Shun. "You know this is one of the few times I've been glad I wasn't a Pretty Cure."

"Why?" asked Beat.

"Because his powers aren't like ours so he doesn't need to go as high." replied Muse. Shun smirked.

"Oh and before I forget." said Shun as he went back into his inventory and pulled out a wristband like object that had a yellow crystal on it which he handed to Lemonade. "Here." he said handing the wristband to Lemonade.

"What is it?" asked Lemonade.

"Not really sure." replied Shun. "From what I was able to understand it's supposed to link you with Miyako."

"Did he say something like it creates a signature through the combination of bio signatures and neurological impulses?" asked Storm.

"Something like that." said Shun.

"What does that mean?" asked Lemonade.

"Since Miyako was originally a dark copy of you then you and her, just like the other originals and dark copies, have a similar link to the one twins have. Which means that thing is meant to amplify the signal given off by your brain waves." explained Storm.

"Uh..." Most of the Cures became completely confused by this.

"So that object is meant to use your link to the Arc in order to create a direct connection between Urara and Miyako?" asked Beauty.

"That's my guess." said Storm with a hand on her chin before she caught something which was thrown at her. She turned to Shun who smirked. "And this?"

"It uses your link to Sam to pull her in by creating a portable CyberMat in case you get in a situation where you need to Bio-Merge." replied Shun.

"He just thought of everything, didn't he?" asked Passion.

"That's how he is." said Storm. "So is there any way we can contact you in case we ever need help?"

"Just send us a message." said Shun. "So just between us, what level are you all?"

"Anywhere between thirty five and forty five." replied Storm. "So have you participated in any of the boss battles?"

"We were in the battle of floors six, eleven, and fourteen." replied Muse as she turned to Storm. "So is it true you actually used your Keshins in one of the battles?"

"Just the first one but it was only because a small group of Bloodysquitos appeared when we were about to beat the boss." replied Beat.

"Really?" asked Chie. The eight nodded.

"Something doesn't makes sense." said Shun.

"Actually it kinda does." said Dawn causing the others to turn to her, minus Storm. "You thought of this too, didn't you?" she asked with a giggle. They turned to Storm, this time minus, Dawn and Chie.

"Prologue." said Storm.

"What do you mean?" asked Ace.

"I assume you were told about that lab they found with the dead scientists." said Storm. The back up team nodded. "And that they found out it held completely evil version of the nine Elemental Pretty Cure, myself included." They nodded again.

"Am I correct in thinking you believe your copy or one of the others was behind that?" asked Muse.

"More than behind it." replied Storm. "In order to create a direct link from the Darkness Civilization Land into a cyber world there's a lot any of them would need. I mean for one she'd need some kind of marker or something which could open a portal there."

"What else?" asked Lemonade.

"Some kind of converter similar to the Cybermat but possibly within the portal." replied Storm with a hand on her chin.

"But that's not what you're worried about is it?" asked Lemonade.

"Like I said. That little show was a prologue which means whoever did it wanted give previews of what was to come. The real question right now is when will they make their move and will we be ready to fight." replied Storm.

"I'm sure if we fight together and with the help of the other players we can win." said Peace.

"It is unlikely." said Beauty. "While the creatures from here have HP meters which allow us to see how much damage they have taken and how much must be dealt the creatures such as the Bloodysquitos do not have them."

"So we keep attacking until we take them out." said Shun.

"Attacks here have a set numerical value in terms of damage with an addition or subtraction of the conditions within the battle itself such as combat area, weapon durability, etc. Because those creatures have no HP bars they others won't be able to do any kind of damage to them." explained Storm.

"I think you know that there is another problem." said Muse.

"What problem?" asked Beat.

"Possibilities." replied Storm. The others turned. "The Cardivus kept a detailed database of every enemy every team of Cures around the world ever fought including enemies like Fusion, Bottom, Black Hole, Extinction, and maybe even Devan."

"Devan?" asked Ace.

"He was the final enemy the Mythos Pretty Cure fought." replied Storm. Ace looked at her. "They're the Pretty Cure from Oregon in the United States."

"How bad was he?" asked Muse.

"That's something for another time. For now we need to go. There's something wee need to do." said Storm going up to Shun. "It was good seeing you Nii-san." He held out his hand and she took it, shaking it.

"Good seeing you too kid."

"I may be younger than I look but that doesn't mean you can call me kid." said Storm with narrowed eyes.

"I know. I know. It's just fun to see when you get mad over it." said Shun. Storm glared but then smiled as she let go of his hand. After they left the shop and headed back to the place where they had rented a few rooms to stay in. Since they were an even number they rented four rooms with Storm and Lemonade sharing one, Beauty and Happy in another, Beat and Passion in the third, and Pine and Moonlight in the last. By now it had gotten dark and the others had gone to sleep. Storm tried to sleep found she couldn't. She turned to look at Lemonade who seemed to be deep in dream land which caused her to smile.

"Maybe a walk." she whispered to herself. Storm turned back to looked at Lemonade who was under the covers and the stepped out before equipping her clothes without her weapon and heading out to walk.

Floor 28: Wolf Plains

"I can bet if Di's watching this she's gonna wanna kill me when I get back." she said to herself as she walked towards what looked to be some ruins. Part ways there she spotted a figure in black who seemed to be walking in the same direction from her left. "Is that...?" she asked herself while squinting but couldn't see more than a silhouette so she decided to just go up to the figure and tap its shoulder. The figure turn revealing Kirito. "Twice in one day. What are the odds?"

"Hey Storm." said Kirito.

"Are you alright? You look kinda glum." said Storm. "I mean more so than usual."

"How would you know?" asked Kirito.

"Remember when we told you about us being Cures?" Kirito nodded. "Well our mission didn't have to do with ending this. Our top priority is your protection so we keep an eye on you."

"I'm surprised then sent you with a group of girls." said Kirito.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" asked Storm.

"Well I mean a guys with seven girls..." began Kirito before Storm smacked him behind the head. "What was that for?"

"I'm a girl sword for brains." said Storm wtih a glare.

"EH?! Seriously?!" asked Kirito in shock.

"I was cloned form a guy." said Storm.

"So how come you're dressed like that?" asked Kirito.

"Hey I may be a girl but that doesn't mean I have to like wearing skirts or anything like that." said Storm.

"Alright. So are you and Lemonade..." began Kirito.

"Dating?" asked Storm. Kirito nodded. "Yeah. We've been together for about two going on three years now."

"So how did you two meet?" asked Kirito.

"She was part of one of the team of Pretty Cure we trained but I became interested in her way before that." replied Storm.

"When?"

"I've only been alive for about three years and a few months early when my team and I were rescued I started having nightmares about every mission I was assigned prior to that. Every person I killed, every target who looked into my eyes asking for mercy, and every soldier, guard, and officer who stood in my way. I'd see their faces as they died by my hand and I'd wake up completely horrified so my original had me listen to a song that soothed me enough sleep. After I listened to that song constantly." said Storm with a smile.

"What song was it?"

"It's called Extraordinary! Door of Courage by Kasugano Urara." replied Storm.

"So..."

"That's Lemonade's civilian identity." replied Storm. "Anyway I listened and I found myself enchanted. So how come you're out so late?"

"I just needed some time to myself to think." replied Kirito. "What about you?"

"Came to hunt wolves." replied Storm with a shrug as they got to the top of the hill where they spotted a small party fighting some dark red wolf creatures. They turned and saw two more going after another wolf side by side while a third guy ran in front of it.

"Klein." said Kirito.

"Friend of yours?" asked Storm.

"Kind of." replied Kirito as they saw the one in front of the wolf charge slash the wolf causing it to shatter. Then he turned and spotted them.

"Hey. Kirito!" he called out. "Hey guys can you clean up the rest of the trash mobs?"

"Sure." said another guy. Klein then went up the hill.

"It's been a while since we've seen each other." said Klein. "You're out leveling up this late? That mark. Are you in a guild?"

"Yeah, kind of." replied Kirito.

"So who's your friend?" asked Klein.

"Name's Fire Storm but I prefer to go by Storm." she said holding out her hand.

"I'm Klein." he said shaking her hand.

"Hey! We're ready to go." said another guy.

"I gotta go." said Kirito as he walked by Klein.

"Alright." said Klein. "Jeez, that's still in your head?"

"He's stupid that way." said Storm. "Hey can I join you guys?"

"Sure." said Klein. "So why are you out late?"

"Couldn't sleep." replied Storm. "I usually sleep better after killing a few wolves so I like coming here when I can't sleep. I'm just hoping my girlfriend doesn't wake up before I get back or I'm never gonna hear the end of it."

"You have a girlfriend?" asked Klein as they walked with his group.

"Yeah." replied Storm.

"What level are you?" asked an overweight guy.

"That's rude to ask." said another guy.

"I don't mind. I'm level 42." said Storm. "My team and I have been fighting anywhere we can although I know Pine still has trouble with it."

"Pine?" asked Klein.

"Yeah." said Storm.

"You mean the cute blond with the katana skill?" asked Klein.

"Yeah." replied Storm wondering where he was going with this.

"Is that who you're dating?" asked Klein.

"No. Pine and I are in the same team but I'm dating someone else within my team." replied Storm.

"Who?" asked Klein.

"How does every conversation I have go to my love life?" she asked herself.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude." said Klein.

"It's fine. I'm actually dating Lemonade." said Storm as they spotted a few more wolves. They hunted around two hours before Storm checked the time. "I'd better get going." she said.

"Already?" asked Klein.

"It's midnight and if Lemonade wakes up she'll get really mad." said Storm. "Hopefully we can hunt again some time." she said holding out her hand. Klein smiled and shook it.

"Yeah. And maybe next time you can introduce me to Pine." said Klein.

"We'll see." said Storm as she let go and left.

A little less than a month after that they found themselves on floor twenty seven walking around the dungeon.

"Why are we here?" asked Passion.

"Because I've been having a bad feeling all day." replied Storm.

"Then shouldn't we be in another floor?" asked Beat.

"Not like we're in danger. More along the lines of someone else is in danger." replied Storm.

"How can you tell?" asked Lemonade.

"The mark I placed on Kirito and Asuna back before the first boss battle." replied Storm.

"I've been wondering about that." said Moonlight.

"It's something Shawn taught me." said Storm. "By placing the mark of the phoenix I can create an empathic link to them and from what I'm sensing he's afraid for someone."

"Can you tell which way?" asked Happy.

"He's becoming more agitated so I think so." replied Storm as she closed her eyes. After took off running shortly followed by the others. Not long after they arrived in front of a large black door which she began punching.

"What's wrong?" asked Lemonade becoming concerned.

"I don't know. He's becoming way more aggitated." replied Storm as she kept punching the door. Then she opened her inventory and brought out a small object. "I hope this is what I think." she said as she focused on it causing it to glow. After the took the shape of a small red bird with nine tails.

"What took you so long?" asked the bird.

"Phoenrae not now! I need you to help me smash the door." said Storm. Phoenrae nodded and began glowing before disappearing as an armor appeared on her.

"Override code 55674." said Phoenrae's voice as her hand began glowing. Then she punched the door causing it to shatter. Inside she saw several creatures who filled up the room.

"Rage Fire!" she called out slamming her hand on the ground which caused the floor of the room to catch on fire destroying most of the creatures. In the center of the room she saw Kirito as he took down the remaining creatures. "Are you alright?" After destroying the remaining creatures Kirito turned to Storm.

"I'm fine." said Kirito as he walked by her while looking down. "Thank you." he said as he left.

"What happened?" asked Beat.

"He was in a guild. Him and five others." replied Storm as her armor disappeared and Phoenrae reappeared.

"But why was..." began Happy before her eyes widened.

"They're gone." said Storm as she clenched her fist. "The other five are dead." she said as her teeth became sharper.

"Then we should try to help him." said Happy. Moonlight placed a hand on her shoulder.

"it's best to leave him be for the time being."

"Damn it." said Storm as she punched the ground causing a small screen to appear which said Immortal Object.

After the incident they continued to do their own thing. Over the course of the year they kept doing their own thing while occasionally keeping an eye on Kirito. Through out the course of the year they were also able to level up significantly enough to be able to use the crystals they'd been given but made sure refrain from using their full power at any time. At the same time they watched as Kirito seemed to fall into endless dispair. It wasn't until Christmas Eve that they noticed something.

Floor 49: Myugen

"Why are we here?" asked Moonlight.

"I've been listening in and I heard Kirito say that he was meeting an Information Broker." replied Storm.

"He said that?" asked Passion.

"Actually he said something about meeting someone but I'd say it's a good guess." replied Storm.

"Why?" asked Passion.

"Call it Wesen instinct." replied Storm as they saw someone walk up to Kirito wearing a cloak. The cloaked figure seemed to be talking but they were too far for most of them to hear.

"What are they saying?" asked Happy.

"The person in the cloak said something about a first time even that wasn't the in the Beta." replied Beat. "Sounds like an event boss will appear later tonight but I wonder what for."

"If I had to guess I'd say it's for an extremely rare item." said Storm.

"So what do we do?" asked Lemonade.

"We're gonna back him up." replied Storm. "Come on. I got a message from Usui that there's something he wants to show us." A few minutes after the group left to a shop. Inside Usui was waiting for them.

"Hello and welcome to Usui's Rare Shop." he said.

"So you got a second shop?" asked Beat.

"No. I closed the first shop to open one here." replied Usui. "Now what can I do for you?"

"You sent a message about a rare item. What is it?" asked Storm.

"Ah this." replied Usui as he pulled out a small box. He opened it revealing what looked like a dark yellow pendant. "This is called the Amulet of Extinction. It basically gives the user an added boost to all their stats once their health goes below thirty percent."

"How much?" asked Storm.

"I'm not sure. I think it's like a fifteen percent boost to everything but it goes up the lower their health." replied Usui.

"No I mean how much for it." clarified Storm.

"Oh. Sorry." said Usui with a sheepish smile. "Given the journey I had to take to get it so 6K."

"I'll give you three." said Storm.

"Fifty five."

"Four."

"Fourty five." said Usui.

"Deal." said Storm pulling up her system menu. Once she paid the amulet was added to her inventory. "Anything else you've got that might be interesting?"

"Well I have an Amulet of the Full Moon." replied Usui. "It gives the user a boost in certain conditions." Storm turned to Moonlight.

"Fine." said Moonlight. "How much?"

"Two thousand nine hundred." replied Usui. Moonlight payed and equipped her new amulet. After they took off and began following Storm which led them into a large forest with several trees before they all ran at the same speed until they spotted Kirito as well as a party who appeared in front of him. Then they stopped near him.

"Can you convince him to stop acting so wrecklessly?" asked Klein after he noticed Storm.

"If I tried it would be a waste of breath." said Storm. It was then a few more parties appeared behind Klein's.

"It looks like you were followed too Klein." said Kirito as he place a hand on his sword.

"Looks that way." said Klein as he held his weapon.

"Isn't that the Holy Dragon Alliance?" asked a member of Klein's party. It was then the another party arrived.

"Nii-san?" asked Storm.

"We thought you might need a little help in this endeavor." said Shun. "So they're the jerks who'll do anything for rare item."

"It seems like we're outnumbered." said Muse.

"Just the way I like it." said Storm as she cracked her knuckles.

"Kirito you go after the item." said Shun. "We'll keep those scum bags busy."

"How do you know my name?" asked Kirito.

"Is this really the time for questions?" asked Shun.

"He's right." said Klein. "Go and we'll keep them busy." Kirito looked at the group before nodding and leaving.

"So should we hold back?" asked Shun.

"I think not." replied Storm. "It's been way too long since I got to fight seriously." she said turning. "Phoenrae. Ready?"

"Always." said Phoenrae before flying straight up causing a bright flash. After they saw Phoenrae had become a much larger version of himself.

"Phoenrae. Plazma Burst!" called out Storm.

A few minutes to an hour later the group sat down with Klein's group feeling exhausted enough to just sit.

"You're guys weren't bad." said Shun as he held his hand to Klein who took it allowing Shun to pull him up.

"Thanks." said Klein. "You were all very impressive. I never knew we could reach such high speeds."

"You can't. I can." replied Shun with a smirk.

"You're forgetting I can too." said Storm. "So can Lemonade, Peace, and Chie."

"So any idea why Kirito followed a rumor?" asked Klein.

"Because he blames himself." replied Storm looking down.

"For what?" asked Klein.

"You remember when we met a number of months back?" asked Storm. Klein nodded. "And you remember how at that time he had a Guild Icon on his bar?" Klein nodded again. "Well around a month after Kirito and the guild the Black Cats of the Full Moon fell into a trap in the dungeon on the twenty seventh floor. An ambush in an enclosed room. Of the six of them only Kirito survived long enough for us to destroy the door."

"Since then he's been fighting on his own to raise his level as fast as possible." added Moonlight.

"That's horrible." said Klein.

"It gets worse." said Muse causing Klein and his group to turn to her. "A few months ago someone found out who he was and they commited suicide in front of him."

"Should we go help him?" asked a member of Klein's group.

"No." replied Storm. "This is something he's chosen to do himself for a reason. If we intervene it'll make things worse for him. For now let's be patient." she said as she sat down with her hands together as did Lemonade.

"What are they doing?" asked Klein.

"Meditation." replied Moonlight. "We completed a quest and obtained the Meditation skill. Storm uses it to relax and Lemonade uses it to...convene with other parts of herself."

"What do you...?" began Klein when Kirito returned. It was then Storm and Lemonade stood up. They all noticed Kirito holding a small sphere.

"Kirito!" called out Klein before noticing Kirito's expression looked dead. It was then Kirito threw the sphere to Klein who looked up the information of the item.

"Use it on the next person you see die." said Kirito before turning and leaving. It was then Klein took hold of Kirito's coat.

"Kirito, you have to survive!" said Klein. "Please survive until then man." he said as tears fell from his eyes and he released the coat allowing Kirito to leave.

"Don't worry." said Storm as she placed a hand on Klein's shoulder. "Our mission here is to ensure his survival. He will make it out. You have my word." Klein turned to Storm.

"Thanks."

"You know you could be a great asset." said Storm with a smile.

"Thanks." said Klein as Storm placed a hand on his arm causing a faint glow.

"Watch yourself." said Storm. "When the whole thing is over I hope you'll be willing to join us in something dangerous that's to come."

"What do you mean?" asked Klein. Storm smiled before both teams disappeared.

A few minutes later the two teams arrived back in town.

"You know." said Storm. "There's not much to do today so how's about we spend Christmas together."

"Sounds like a plan." said Shun turning to the other members of his team. "What do you think?" The four Cures nodded. "I heard of a Christmas party in a little pub not far from here." he said.

"Alright. Let's go." said Storm. On the way Lemonade looked a bit down. "Hey. What's wrong?"

"I just feel bad for Kirito. Did you see his eyes."

"Don't worry about it." replied Storm.

"How can you say that?" asked Lemonade.

"Let's just say he'll be getting a message from the other side." said Storm with a smile. Lemonade became confused but continued to walk.


End file.
